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Thursday, January 22, 2009

OKC Transition Town 1st Steering Committee Meeting

The OKC Transition Town Steering Committee - possibly to be renamed - met for the first time today, Thursday the 22nd, at my house. Four of the eight interested people were able to attend. If you saw the original agenda - well, let's just say we didn't get through it all. However, it was great meeting the other interested people and starting to brainstorm a path forward.

Here's what we discussed:

- Fundamentals of peak oil (There was one woman who was unaware of our impending doom ;), so I was happy to fill her in).

- Transition Towns vs. Post-Carbon Cities. TT are more grass-roots, and focused on the importance of a positive vision, PCC are more government focused, and more centrally controlled

- Roadmap for the website - including a Peak Oil Primer, a Local Resources list, a Join the Momentum! page of events, an Adapting in Place list of information and links, a link to an "Oklahoma City 2020" visioning blog, and of course a "Who are we" page that explains our project

- Upcoming dates for events to participate / table - piggybacking on existing events until we get more organized

We scheduled participation in the OKC Sustainability Valentine's Day Party, an already-planned "End of Suburbia" screening, a Sustainability conference, and Earth Day. More to come, no doubt!

We decided that the Steering Committee should have a lifespan of about one year, until the various sub-groups that sponsor different local initiatives get started. Generally, sub-groups that come out of the Raising Awareness and Laying the Foundations step of the TT process might include things like food security, gardening, solar energy, transport, education, land use, energy efficiency, etc. etc.

The plan of our demise helps us to commit to the team whole-heartedly, knowing there will be a definite end to the committee, but also knowing that there will be a fairly intensive time requirement during the first year. Although I work part-time, and full-time as a SAHM ;), I will be able to fit a lot of planning, web work, and writing as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the project.

When the eight people interested in serving on this project are all able to meet, we will have a great amount of diversity, experience, networking, and passion on our team. The members are veteran activists, seasoned government employees, sustainability and social justice advocates, and a LEED certified architect, just to name some of their capacities. Together, I believe our team members might know everyone in town.

We are scheduled to meet again Feb 3rd or 10th. By then I hope to have finished two major projects: a basic "Who are we" flyer content written and passed on to another Steering Committee member for the design work, and posted the beginnings of our website online. So: blogging may be light over the next few weeks. But I will keep in touch!

I find this very commendable. I just joined the TT networks here in my neighborhood and, o my, I am overwhelmed with what needs to be done. But wouldn't it be neat, to have something like this in place here as well... Keep us informed and inspired!